The SGA Vice President has expressed displeasure with SGA leadership through social media posts, discussing impeachment of the SGA President. Her tweets have brought up division within the SGA and questions around free speech. While no formal impeachment process has begun, the tweets have sparked controversy around the level of criticism SGA members can express and how new technologies impact definitions of free speech. Students also express frustration with the visibility and effectiveness of both the SGA and campus police.

1. THEÖOYÞ
VOL 56 ISSUE 3 PRINCE GEORGE's COMMUN COLLtc.t STUDENT NEWSPArtR DECEMBER 5. 2011
Na a swornInast V_ enc Du 1.
SGA Unrest Sparks Controversy
A top ranking SGA offi-
cial is using social media to ex-
press her displeasure towards
the leadership and starting up
talk of possible impeachment.
Appointed Student
Governance Association
Vice President for Admin-
istrative Affairs Makarim
Muhammad has discussed
over online mediums her
displeasure with the way the
SGAis run this semester. She
has openly expressed the
idea of impeaching elected
SGA President Nabila He-
jazi on a public web page.
Unprotected posts by
Muhammad from her so-
cial networking page on the
website, Twitter,have been
gathered from October20 to
November 9, 2011, indicating
a division within the organi-
zation. Muhammad, who was
ay w s ome
ByJosé maña and •lhcOwl Staff
appointed Vice President in
October, stated her position in
the biography section ofher
profileand linked/hashtagged
#PGCC and #SGA regularly.
"With the way things
are going,that Presidential
theme song will be playing
behind me in no time," she
wrote in a November 3rd
statement. Later on the same
day,she stated, "and my FIRST
order ofbusinesswouldbe
to fire that (expletive).The
less dead weight the better."
On October 28th,
Muhammad wrote, "l need
to feelsecure that I'm un-
der effective leadership, and
I just don't feel as though
there's a clear enough vi-
sion to move forward." Im-
mediately after the post she
stated, "if I'm not confident
in your abilities to perform
your duties, you're disposed
of. Effective immediately."
Though it could seem
that the tweets are merely
frustrations and grievances
that any member ofa club
could express through a so-
cial networking site, some
of Muhammad's comments
included stipulations on
how the impeachment pro-
cessworks within SGA.
"The signatures of 500
associated students, and a
two-thirds vote of SGA'sex-
ecutive boards for impeach-
ment. Ok."Muhammad said
in an October26th tweet.
No printed impeach-
ment document or petition
has been circulated, although
Muhammad prematurely
mentionedina November9th
tweet: "Operation REMOVAL
is in effectapparently"
The question still
remains on what are the
legitimate grounds Muham-
mad could have for a pos-
Sible impeachment of Hejazi
or if the messages from her
Twitter account violate any
SGA polices or the College's
Student Codeof Ethics.
Muhammad has also
made spoken claims and
references in front of stu-
dents, in club offices,to the
duties she completes that
go beyond her job descrip-
tion, according to numerous
sources that have asked to
remain anonymous. Cur-
rently, there are vacant posi-
tions within the SGAand the
workload is presumably dis-
tributed betweenmembers.
The messages bring
up the topic of how much
Continued on page 3
SPORTS
ac to y ver re enc "Weshowedourtoughnessandourfightin
byJoséUmaña the second half,' Coach Tiona Harris said. "Theteam
Down by 10points with 3:46 remaining in the game, the LadyOwls
rallied back by scoring 14of the last 17points to defeatFrederick
Community College, 70-69, in the team'shome opener in the Novak
Field House.Thevictory improvesthe team'soverallrecord to three
winsand oneloss,while alsoobtainingtheir first win in MDJUCO
regional play.
needed to showcharacterand be more energeticin the secondhalf
and theydid when theyneededto."
Fromthe start of the game,both teamswerein foultrouble
and missed more than 50% percent of their shots. The Lady Owls
Continuedonpage 15

2. December S,2010
Disregard to CampusSafety
By Sharron Duncan
StaffWriter
Dueto the careless and inattentive
behavior exhibited by campus police,
PGCCstudents feel unsafe and
disrespected on campus grounds.
According to updated campus crime
reports, ranging from 2008-2010, PGCC
hasshownitselftobea campusthat
is not high in crime.In 2010,over the
course ofthe entire year, the most crime
reported was 8 aggravated assaults,
I robbery.3 burglaries and 9 motor
vehiclethefts.Studentsrecognizeand
understandthat thecrime reportsshow
that the campus is somewhatofa safe
environment. However,the main issue
is that campus police are not taking the
proper measures to ensure that safety,
The biggest concern byfar is that
campus police are not readily available to
students,Whenaskedifstudentsknow
where to find the police,more than half
claimed they did not know feel
the "When
coveYédeverything but safety. I think
that orientation would be the best time
to inform students about campus police
newer technology.like social networking
sites.couldchangethe definitionsoffree
speech in and around Prince George's Corn•
munity College.Sinceher tweets havecome
into question, Muhammadchangedher Twit-
ter profile settings from public to private.
Formallyknownas the StudentGov-
ernance Board.the SGAis the designated or-
ganization on campus comprised of PGCCstu-
dents who serve as the voiceforall students.
Ilejazi, elected in April of2011,
servesas the 2011-2012SGAPresident,and
receivesa stipend fromthe college.Herdu-
ties consist ofconducting monthly Town Hall
meetings, which are open to Prince George's
Countyresidents and hosting an open forum
forstudentswith PresidentCharleneDukes.
Atthe NovemberBoardofTrustees meeting,
she laid out the organizations goals ofthe se-
mester.whichwereto makethe collegemore
"greener".start new relationships with the
college's extension centers, and try to com-
municatebetterwithstudentsoncampus
In a recent, independent survey
conducted by The Owl Newspaper about the
effectiveness ofclubs at the Largo Campus.
includingthe SGA.students expressed frus-
tration over the job their electedstudent
bodyofficialsare currently doing based on
lackofcommunicationand attention they
display around the school,compared to
NEWSWhen foundout where the polite were
Iwas like that's pretty far;-one student
commented.
What the student is referrtng to is
campus police's majn location. which is
offsetfromcampusbeyondthe "Child
Time• building and the soccerfield.
Aside from this location. campus police
are located jn Bladen Hall across from
theTutoring and Writing Center desk
and nextto the computer lab, However,
students complain that they hardly see
police as they walk past the post.
One student's recent encounter further
highlights thedisregards of campus
policeto makestudentsfeelas safe as
possible.The student,a club leader.
reported a threatening email directed
towards them by a club member who was
asked to leavethe clubdue to extenuating
circumstances. The club leader reported
this to campus police. After about fifteen
minutes oflooking up the email sender's
information.campuspoliceconcluded
that a code of conduct citation would
suffice.Theclubleader responded
with. not
orihreatenirié
language. According to sources from a
localarea police department, "a threat
does not have to be physical. Anyform
other extra-curricular activities or groups.
"Inthe past, the officerswould
make themselves known," Jared Johnson,
aTheater major,said in the survey "Now
they are an invisible shadow group."
Accordingto students, many admit-
ted that they do not know who their SGA
officersare nor feelthat they do enough
to representthe students. Otherconcerns
students pointed out were the lackofadver-
tisementsfortheTownHallMeetingsonline
and in other areas around the LargoCampus.
Valerie McKeithan.an Honors Acad-
crnystudent. applied forthe vacantVice
PresidentforAcademicAffairs in October
and feltthat the interview process was "very
professional"at the time. However,the or-
ganization failedto meet the deadline they
specifiedto inform her of their decision.
"Iwas told that by Halloween(Oc-
tober 31st) that they would callme to see
if Igot the position."McKeithansaid. "Now
it is a month later and they didn't contact
me, which to me was unprofessional."
However,somestudentslike
DeanWhitfieldbelievethat the SGA
needsto get morestudentsinvolvedin
TownHallmeetingsas "there's more
chairsthanaudiencemembers."
"Overall,(SGAJare heading in the
of harassment should be handled
accordingly,espeaaliy verbal•
Policehave shown extremety poor
consistency concermng Identification
checks Withrespect to time and location
Over the course of a week a student's
ID could be checked a maximum of one
time and a student's ID may be checked
tn Bladen Hall but never In Marlboro
HalL This inconsistency allows plenty
ofopportunityforoutsiders to Infiltrate
the campus Without anyone knowing
the intent ofthetr vtstt Anothersafety
hazard is not checking for the proper
information during ID check •I Just
pulled out my keychatn. but he [police
officer]didn't checkfor the actualcard.
The cardwasn't even attached tothe
keychain. it was in my purse,- stated
Briana. General Studies major.
With campus police seemingly -off guard-
the fear ISthat when danger strakes.
campus police Will react after a Situation
blows up instead of acting beforehand.
"Peopletend to respond when it•stoo
late I that
Hannah. majosr
rightdirec-
tionbut
need to
pick up the
pace."said
WhitfielŒ
"The posi-
tive thing is
that Itheyl
are not
movingin
reverse.-
Recent
posters for
the PieSocialat the UniversityTown Cen-
ter extensionand the HolidayCerealDrive
havebeen on display in some areas around
campus, showing signs ofimprovements
ofstudent outreach.Inthe past month.
the organization created a Twitter profile
and a Facebookgroup page.so students
cangatherinformationaboutSGAonline
and postupcomingnewsandevents
Afternumerousattemptstoget
an interview or a statement,Muham-
mad and President Hejazidid not meet
the deadline. However.the SGAhas open
dialogue for a response that will be post-
ed in the February issue of TheOwl

3. DECEMBER5.20t1 Il Il owl. R
Spon•tsLaiy Comebackto Fly Over Continuedfrom on I
faced more pressure as the half continued, as Frederick's fast-break offense would catch them of guard aru mtssed free throws
to bnng the scorecloset The period ended Withthe LadyOwls down byetght potnts. 32-24.
•First half. we were playing very lazy and lackadaisical.-Coach Harris stated. •we weren't playing to the best of
As the second half began. the teamstarted to make more shots and controlled the tempo of the thanks larF part
freshmanguards, Dominique Person and Danielle Durant Person,the team' PointGuard, created many scœing opp«tungrs her
mates and defensively. finishtng the game Withetght asststs and fivesteals- Durant would finrsh
that Person created. With the mayority of her 16potnts coming in the second half.
However.the night belonged to freshman Forward Marissa Akins.The Fort Washington native &aned-up
nities, collecting rebounds on both Sidesof the court. and scoring second chance shots off
VSith32 seconds to go and the scoreat 69-68 in favorof Fredrick.Akins scored eme-wtzaing sha-
double-double.15potntsand 16rebounds
•Marissa ts the workhorsethat kept us tn the game wtth those critical rebounds.-Coach Hams proudly
team. •rm still looking more from her because I know that she can do But rm still proud of her-a
ást breaksrx
baa
the
úx
Though the teamended the game strong, thereare still weú'esses Coach Harris wazts the teamto aidress in
the seasoncontinues Practta.ngon freethrows.three-p«ûltattempts and stayingaway troubk ze
team will haveto address of durtng the rest of the
Coach Harris believesthat •if wecan keepour down. make freethrcms.and make t
willbe better the longrun.-
havxconá&nce wtth this team.-Harris saa&•This yrar. a laaes cz
asI
Vea•s
a
just relyon just three or playersto the'0b dotx- We a really chanceto 1st
-This is a Division I Team in the Division Ill Classification-
8'à RankedOwls Lookto tight tor Regonalan
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team ts think
bcalÿ and
coach Xavier
to Cty
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